Who's buying?

June 19, 2003

Somewhere in the future, I'm lost.

I decide to pull over and ask for directions. Hey, in 2020 it's socially acceptable for men to seek this kind of guidance. A local automobile battery recharge station appears to be my information oasis. Surely somebody there can help me.

"Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to the Verizon Wireless Interstate?"

Somewhere in the future, I'm lost.

I decide to pull over and ask for directions. Hey, in 2020 it's socially acceptable for men to seek this kind of guidance. A local automobile battery recharge station appears to be my information oasis. Surely somebody there can help me.

"Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to the Verizon Wireless Interstate?"

The battery recharge station attendant looks like somebody had just asked him to "Fill'er up." His face is flushed with confusion.

"Um . . . oh, I think you mean the Microsoft Expressway."

"Are you sure? What happened to the Verizon Wireless Interstate?"

"Verizon is no longer in the road business. It's all Microsoft now."

Corporate sponsorship. It's already attached to every fancy facade in the sporting world. If a baseball owner wants to replace aging grass, steel and concrete there are two common funding options: arm wrestle the public for money or call up the Tropicana's and Budweiser's of the world, treat them to ringside seats at a professional wrestling match and massage a fiscal partnership. This technique has proven to be highly successful, if one doesn't mind revving up the team crane every few years and changing the name on the building. A shaky economic world tends to loosen corporate lettering.

In our May issue I did a story on Georgia's Senate 257 Bill for Spanning the News (see Is this utensil proper?, p 10). The legislative action would allow private investment consortiums to make unsolicited proposals on transportation projects outside of Georgia's three-year State Transportation Improvement Program. Once a proposal is received it would then be advertised for other contractors to submit competing proposals while ensuring the protection of proprietary information. The Department of Transportation would either approve or reject the contract, and toll fees would repay the investment by the consortium, bonds or other instruments dictated in the contract.

My take on it was if somebody wanted to throw down $300 million along with a bundle of plans for a redesign of an intersection, the state DOT would allow other contractors to counter the move and ultimately decide whether or not to move forward. The competing contractors, however, would not know the intimate details of the master plan. Supporters of this bill believe this type of security allows investors to deliver innovative ideas. When the job is done, the financial backer will most likely construct a few toll boxes and the road--or bridge--would pay for itself in five to 10 years.

I think allowing money-chucking players into the game is a great idea, as long as the plan clears certain safety and environmental walls. Currently, state DOTs operate out of a box--one that was once the size of a crate not too long ago. The agency is granted a certain amount of money which can be used for a limited amount of projects. Don't even attempt to take a box cutter to this budgetary vault. Unless a few gold coins magically appear under a supervisor's pillow, nothing is making its way in.

But I can't help imagining the next step in all this--the Microsoft Expressway. Will we ever reach a point where some swashbuckling company forks over millions of dollars to fix or maintain some fork in the road? And will they then have the right to plaster advertising every 100 ft through the acquired zone? I have visions of countless billboards and company logos on every mile marker.

There's already talk out of New York that the mayor has thought about encouraging corporations to sponsor city landmarks. I'm assuming the Brooklyn Bridge is among this group. Could this exquisite span be the place for McDonald's golden arches?

It's hard to vision the old beauty under corporate takeover. Of course, I am getting used to one slogan certain lawmakers have slapped on this industry when it comes to finances: "Not Enough . . . is Enough." It has a certain ring to it, one I hope is being picked up as a distress call.

Do you have an opinion? E-mail me at the address below.

[email protected]

About The Author: Bill Wilson is editor of Roads & Bridges.

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